CyrusOne recently earned LEED Silver Certification established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) for the environmentally friendly design of its West Houston Data Center, located along the North West Beltway between Interstate I-10 and Highway 290. The CyrusOne West Houston data center is the first Core and Shell to be certified in Houston and the second data center to be certified in Houston.

LEED certification of CyrusOne’s West Houston campus was based on a number of green design and construction features. Energy efficiency measures include an improved thermal envelope, high efficiency glazing, reduced interior lighting power density, occupancy sensors, reduced exterior lighting power, high efficiency air-cooled chillers and high efficiency HVAC systems.

“We are honored to be recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council for our West Houston data center campus and consider the use of LEED sustainable design guidelines to be an extension and demonstration of our commitment to corporate stewardship,” said David Ferdman, CEO, CyrusOne. “While our state-of-art facility provides an enhanced work environment, its value to our customers is a secure and reliable data center with focus on resiliencies and redundancies.”

CyrusOne’s dedication to sustainability for the West Houston data center campus began in June 2009 with groundbreaking on the 200,000 square foot master planned site greenfield project. Construction was completed in six months, record time for a project of its magnitude. The facility features a redundant 2N architecture and will support power densities of at least 250 watts per square foot across the entire data center footprint. Built to sustain strong hurricanes, the facility is outside the FEMA 500 year flood plain and has a reinforced roof, concrete walls and hurricane shutters.

“The green building movement offers an unprecedented opportunity to respond to the most important challenges of our time, including global climate change, dependence on non-sustainable and expensive sources of energy and threats to human health,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “The work of innovative building projects such as the CyrusOne West Houston data center campus is a fundamental driving force in the green building movement.”

The building designers were Duane Bradshaw Architects and Chuck Prichard Consulting. Kirksey Architects completed the LEED certification documentation. This is Metzger Construction’s sixth LEED-certified building.